[21-05-2017]
PIERRE RAGUES TAKES CLOSE-FOUGHT RALLY VICTORY IN MÉZIDON-CANON
 Pierre Ragues enjoyed a return to rally-winning form at this weekend’s Rallye de Mézidon-Canon, part of the renowned Coupe de France des Rallyes. Pierre won four out of the six stages en route to overall victory in his Skoda Fabia R5.
Alongside co-driver Julien Pesenti, Pierre got the short six-stage event off to a successful start by winning the opening 6.88km stage by 4.7-seconds from his closest challenger Stéphane Pustelnik.
In a strong field of 130 competitors, it was no mean feat for Pierre to lead the way, particularly two months since his last event, Rallye du Touquet Pas de Calais, in March.
It heralded the start of a fascinating contest between two challengers, each taking turns to win stages on the first two loops. Pierre saw his initial lead cut to two seconds after the 6.04km Les Authieux stage.
The start of the second loop could not have been more evenly matched with Pierre setting the same time as Pustelnik. It was then that the overall lead was tied as Pierre had to settle for second in SS4.
Starting the final loop with the same time, it was a tantalising finish to the rally, but Pierre got the better of his rival in the final loop to win the rally outright – a hard-fought but well deserved victory.
It is Pierre’s second rally win of 2017 after he took R5 honours at Rallye de la Cote Fleurie earlier in the year. The result will give the Caen-born racer plenty of motivation as he returns to endurance action for the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours.
Pierre commented: “What a fantastic result! It was a really intense day of rallying with three loops and six stages in total today. It was a fun battle and there was not much separating the top-two for the first stages. First it was me, then it was him, then it was both of us – amazingly close! I had to dig deep on the final loop to make sure I came out on top, and to take the win. Thanks to everyone at Yacco and to Julien for co-driving. It’s always nice to win in a rally car, where I feel really at home, and especially in a Coupe de France des Rallyes event. I am going to use the positivity from today as motivation for my next event – the biggest event of the year – the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Bring it on! Thanks to GroupAuto, Top Garage, Sparco, Ellip6 and Yacco for a great weekend.”
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